Jonathan Huberdeau was barely a week old when the
Montréal Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup... the phenom from the North Shore was drafted 3rd overall at the 2011 draft by the
Florida Panthers, behind
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and
Gabriel Landeskog, in what was perhaps the best top-3 of the past 15 years. Only Landeskog has played in the post-season so far, though, with his
Colorado Avalanche losing its first-round series against the
Minnesota Wild in seven games just a couple of weeks ago.
Huberdeau won the Calder trophy after the 2012-13 season, posting 31 points in 48 games in the lockout-shortened season, edging out the Canadiens'
Brendan Gallagher and the
Chicago Blackhawks'
Brandon Saad. He had already won the Memorial Cup MVP title a year before, as his
Saint John Sea Dogs captured the title.
Earlier today, at the World Championships, Huberdeau tried a
Peter Forsberg deke against
Team Sweden, but was stopped by goaltender
Anders Nilsson. Still, with
Team Canada surfing on a 5-win streak, I figured it was the perfect time to feature this card, from
Upper Deck's
2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition card (#TC-JH of the
Team Canada Fabrics sub-set):
Already the best forward the Panthers have, Huberdeau needs to add maybe 15 or 20 pounds to his 6'1'', 177-pound frame to become harder to throw off the puck. He already has a well-rounded game and can set plays up as well as he shoots, and his minus-5 on the lowly Panthers this year also stands as a testament to the strength of his defensive game, though no one will ever mistake him for a checking winger.
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